A Change of Heart

By: In Fair Verona/Sibby

Summary: Bakura and Tea have had a serious and steady relationship for 1 year, and suddenly Bakura wants to call it off. How will he end the relationship without hurting her? Maybe his favorite card can help.
Rating: PG-13
Shipper: Bakura x Tea
Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, cards, settings, or basically anything else from Yu-Gi-Oh!
A/N: The past few chapters have been a bit short, so here is the redemption- a nice thorough chapter, flashback free and completely concentrated on the present. In the last chapter we were introduced to the society's view of all this and it's being continued in this chapter. Oh, and might I add the incredibly risky move of adding in an OC made by yours truly, me. Why is it risky? It might have something to do with the fact that I usually never read stories with OC's in them, but they're usually the main character in those stories, and this OC is not a main character... simply a supporting role... that no one else on Yu-Gi-Oh could fill! Allright, enough of my babbling go read the fic!

Reveiwers:

Thanks and apologies for the delay (More about that at the end of the chapter, as usual.) to-

ANIME LOVER GIRL, Anzu Mazaki, youkai the hell hound, Kaori, Peppermint-Angel, Tasha and Barbie!

Magick-Angel: Yes, how could I forget the Mariachi band? ^-^. Max&Liz forever! Oh, those were the good old days.

Mookie- Glad you think Kaiba was being himself. Lol! :)

R Amethyst- It was a bit OOC to see Seto actually give Ryou a heads up, but it was a little necessary for something someone may say in the future. Also, recall from chapter 1 that Tea said that Seto & Yugi were on good terms now. So in my fic, he's okay with all of Yugi's friends except Joey, he still doesn't like Joey which is why in these chapters he still makes the dog remarks. :)





~*~*~

"Another day of the ever so fascinating subject... World History." Tea said sarcastically, her comment followed up by a yawn. Seto chuckled and propped both of his feet up on his desk, leaning back against the chair.
"Some of us take extreme interest in Ancient Egypt." He replied cooly, eyes locked ahead on the physical map of Egypt that was taped across the board at the front of the classroom.
"That's only because you're... you're Kaiba. That's why." Tea replied, scrunching up her nose. "It's just like you to be interested in something so skeptic."
"What's skeptic about Ancient Egypt?" Seto asked, arching an eyebrow.
"History itself is skeptic. Sure, you find a few artifacts here and there, you dig up a few clues, then the rest is guess work. For all we know text book publishers could be making everything up. They weren't alive when it happened, how would they know?"
"You're not thinking about what type of clues they pick up." Seto said, swinging his feet down to the floor as his face set into the mode of persuasion. "Journal entries. I doubt someone is going to write down a gathering of lies just in case 2000 years from now someone else digs it up and brainwashes the youth of Japan with it." Seto said cheekily. "History's a puzzle. You need science to solve it. You need math to do science- History is a unique and related way to apply those skills in life."
"Geez Kaiba, did you memorize the text book by heart or what?" Tea laughed, not in the slighest bit persuaded to Seto's point of view. Her subject preference was Literature. British Literature, Poems of the Romantic Era, Gothicism... Anything with deep implements of emotions and conflicting relationships and Tea would be having a field day.
"Unlike your friend the Chihuahua and Tristan, I prefer spending my free time becoming a genius rather than failing all my classes and getting into fights every single day. Which is a sad fact, because even you know I could kick their asses with a single move." Seto said, throwing his head up in a self-absorbed air. "I'm not the only one on the planet who takes interest in Ancient Egypt... Ryou does." He glanced over his shoulder at Ryou, who looked up upon hearing his name.
"Huh?" His dark eyes darted back and forth between Tea and Seto, eventually lingering on Tea, who snapped her head away quickly.
"We were just discussing the study of Ancient Egypt. From your marks and your work I'd say you're quite interested."
"Well, yes." Ryou shrugged. "My father's been to Egypt before. It does seem like an interesting place to learn about."
"But-" Tea opened her mouth to oppose when the teacher cleared her throat loudly and all eyes directed towards the head of the classroom. Their teacher was a short pudgy woman with estatic frizzy auburn hair, clad in a black sweater with little apples sewn across it. She had her hands on the shoulders of a young girl around their age, who was just the slighest bit taller than their teacher and a little bit shorter than Tea standing at 5'3. Her tri-colored hair vaguely reminded Tea of Yugi- except the girl had long black strands with streaks of platinum blonde and light mint green skewn throughout. Her hair was pulled up into a pony tail above her head with a few stray strands that framed her face as if adorning some enchanted hard working priestess from Ancient Japan. Her big eyes matched the streaks of her hair, they were the soothing tint of eucalyptus leaves. She was clad in a blue Domino school girl skirt and an unbuttoned pink Domino school girl jacket. Underneath the jacket was a simple white T-shirt and in her hands a fluffy beige jacket. Obviously the girl had not obliged to the school uniform and had attempted to cover it up with her other jacket. The pink and blue baby hues didn't blend well with her smooth green, blonde, and black hair and she was obviously a tad bit upset about this.
"Students. I would like you to welcome a new classmate. This is Rikku Yurana, a transfer student. Her father was working on a classified project for Kaiba Corp in Australia, but-"
"But Seto Kaiba, the head of Kaiba Corp decided to shut down the project, a project which my father depended on for the welfare of our family. He was fired, and after a year of traveling across Japan we settled down here where he found a new job. End of story." The girl said curtly, her eyes flaming as she glanced at Kaiba, who remained emotionless. The girl had a slight Australian accent, but nothing extreme. Although, for such a seemingly normal girl just like Tea... she seemed to stick out. It was more than just her tri-colored hair. The way she moved, with poise, and the way she presented herself, or simply the way her uniform just clashed with her looks and personality. It was one of those things about new students... they come and if they can do that, if they can stand out, they're instantly accepted by the crowd. As for this girl, she was definetly one of those people.
"Rikku, why don't you take a seat right here." The teacher said, indicating to the empty desk behind Seto, and infront of Ryou.
"Sure." Rikku nonchalantly picked up her books and sat down in her seat. The class kept stealing glances at her every once in awhile. She seemed like someone you'd want to be friends with, but was a completely unapprochable person. Tea soon realized that didn't matter, Rikku was quite outgoing already. "Hi! What's your name?" She said cheerfully, turning around and offering a hand to Ryou.
"Uh... Ryou." Ryou mumbled, looking up at the odd girl and then back down to what he was writing.
"I'm Rikku!" She said enthusastically. Her smile dropped as she realized he wasn't listening anymore and had lost all attention. She narrowed her eyebrows and snatched his notebook away from him. "Whatcha writing?"
"Hey give that back!" Ryou yelled, a bit too loud. The class darted their eyes towards the pair, and in that annoying childish curiousity they begged to hear the note, which is what is was, apparently.
"Tea," Rikku began, clearing her throat. She looked over her shoulder, her black hair swinging across her back as she glanced at Tea. "That's you, right?" Tea nodded slowly, locking her eyes on Ryou. "Please talk to me. Don't you get it? I'm trying everything I can to make up it up to you. I want to be your friend, even if things can't go back to the way they were..." Rikku trailed off, looking at Ryou and placing the note back on his desk. "What a bunch of fluff." She huffed, turning around and slumping back into her seat as if nothing had happened. Ryou once again, was completely devoid of anything that had happened and looked at Tea sincerely.
"Stop it Ryou." Tea hissed, turning around and looking at the teacher. The small woman regained her composure at the head of the classroom and cleared her throat.
"Well then... Now that that little fiasco is over and done, it's time to announce your new project." She paused as various groans were elicted from the class before continuing. "A little project focusing more on our own ancient history rather than Egypt. This doesn't mean you're off the hook though. Your Egypt Exam will be this Thursday, since we just finished that section. I'm handing out a project packet and a study guide for the test." She passed down the papers in rows and the class curiously flipped through the project packet. "You will be placed in groups of 4, but essentially you will be working in pairs. I'll assign your groups and partners before explaining the project further. Allright, let's see what we have..." She sent various groups of 4 to different corners of the classroom, seperating them from one another, finally she reached Tea. "Tea Gardner, Seto Kaiba, Ryou Bakura, and Rikku Yurana." She smiled. Rikku gave Kaiba a cold glance and Tea turned herself away from Ryou's gaze.
"Let's move to that corner over there." Ryou said, pointing to the row of desks by the window. The quad nodded and proceeded over towards the windows. Tea then suddenly remembered that they would be working in pairs as well. She pondered what working with Rikku would be like. She was probably going to be her partner anyway, they were both females so they had something in common. It would be hard getting any information out of Kaiba, and spending way more time with him than she even wanted too. Of course, she'd rather be Kaiba's partner than Ryou's. Anything but that. Tea cringed and turned towards Rikku with a wide grin, she opened her mouth to speak but Rikku cut her off.
"I wanna be Ryou's partner!" Rikku said, tugging on his sleeve. "Kay?"
"Uh..." Ryou paused and trailed off, looking back and forth at all of his partners.
"Fine." Seto shrugged. "Tea and I will be partners." He didn't seem to happy, but Tea had a feeling that he wasn't exactly estactic about the entire group rather than just his partner.
"Allright now class, as you can see, there are a list of things you need to find out about your partner. You'll need to be doing a tone of research on their ancestory, and their culture. You'll learn more about them and them about you. Then, with the other two members of your group you will compare notes and set up a presentation of the various cultures and also bake different foods from your different ancestories, and other things. Then our class will create a float for the coming Domino Day Parade, and each group is responsible for a section of the float. When we are done our float will be a miniature world filled with the different cultures and histories!" The teacher smiled excitedly.
"How 3rd grade." Seto muttered, opening his briefcase and sticking his packet inside.
"Sounds like a bunch of fun." Tea said in monotone, hopping off of a desk and heading back to her seat.
"Well I think it will be fun." Rikku grinned, placing her hands on her hips. She looked over her shoulder at Ryou. "Right?"
"No comment." Ryou grabbed his notebook and walked out of the classroom as the bell rang.

"Hey Tea!" Yugi said as she approached their little group.
"Hi." Tea said blanly, leaning against the brick wall of the school as her friends surrounded her.
"We're all going to go Christmas shopping together tommorow." Tristan said, "You're coming, right?"
"Sure." Tea sighed, staring at the concrete ground with vivid concentration. Mai let out a slight scoff, causing Tea to look up. The older girl was leaning against Joey who had his arm draped around her, a not so happy expression across her face.
"You forgot to tell her who would be joining us." Mai said. Tea's eyes widened as she looked at Yugi.
"Hey Tea, you've met the new girl, right? Rikku?" Yugi asked with a wide grin.
"Yes, I've had that priviledge." Tea shrugged.
"Well, she's coming with us."
"Puh-lease Yugi. Don't make it sound like nothing." Mai cut in. "You were the one practically begging her to come with you. You and Tristan, like you really wanted to learn about Australia. As if." Mai said, rolling her eyes.
"Sounds like fun." Tea mumbled.
"I feel your pain." Mai said supportively. The group then dispersed towards their usual after school hang outs, all but Tea, who after a rather weary day decided it better to go straight home.

"Oh! Rikku what cards did you buy?" Mai asked, leaving Tea's side and running over excitedly.
"Black hole, Dark Witch, and ______." Rikku said cheerfully, showing her cards. "I know they'll be great additions to my deck, strengthening the ultimate force which I have created, starring my Red Archery Mermaid!" She said happily, flashing the card. "She's not the strongest, but she's a beaut. With these new magic cards and the ones I already have I can have her super powered up though."
"I like your style. We'll have to duel sometime." Mai said cheerfully, reaching into her pocket and pulling out a card. "Here, take this."
"Mirror force. Hey, thanks." Rikku grinned as they approached the group.
"No problem." Mai said, lacing hands with Joey. They all began to walk to the next shop. Tea lingered in the back on her own. Mai had said that she didn't get a good first impression from Rikku. Something about her being to reckless. Now it seemed like Mai and her were getting along just fine though. Not that Tea minded. Mai wasn't her best friend. Her real best friends were just as caught up in everything else though, including Rikku.
"Hey. You okay?" Tristan asked, slowing down to Tea's pace.
"Huh? Oh, I'm fine. Just thinking. That's all." Tea said, giving him a quick smile.
"What about?"
"Just stuff. We have a new history project, I was just thinking about it."
"I see." Tristan nodded. They walked along for some time until coming across a jewely store. While the others walked ahead, Tea walked up to the glass display case outside, pressing up against it and looking inside with wonder. "See something you like?" Tristan asked, following her.
"Actually... yeah." Tea said breathlessly. "It's beautiful." She pointed to a silver chain necklace in the far corner of the display. It wasn't the main attraction but it caught her eye- and her heart- more than anything else there. A silver heart pendant adorned the chain and it had a ring made up of tiny little diamonds inside of the heart.
"Hey!" Rikku looked over her shoulder, seeing Tea and Tristan far back. "Hurry up! We've got to go to the arcade now!"
"Allright." Tristan called back. He offered Tea his hand and she gratefully took it.
"Let's go!" Tea said happily, having a quick change of mood. She practically dragged him inside of the arcade after the others and over to the Dance Dance Revolution machines.
"You like this game?" Rikku asked, looking up at the little computer animated people on the DDR screen.
"I'm the queen of it." Tea said triumphantly, handing Tristan her bags.
"I challenge you then." Rikku said, practically throwing her bags at Yugi. "Let's go."
"Are you sure about that?" Tea asked, getting onto the machine's dance floor. "I'm undefeated."
"And I'm here to have some fun. I'll just win in the process."
"We'll see about that." Tea said, putting in her coins and pushing start. Everyone gathered around and watched eagerly as the hyper active techno music began to play...

"Wow. You're good." Rikku said, letting out a deep breath and accepting defeat. "It just got too hard to catch up."
"That's what happens when you play the queen." Tea said cheerfully, jumping off the stage and feeling very accomplished with herself. She looked to Yugi for a congratulations, or something, but it never came.
"Are you allright Rikku?" Yugi asked with concern, handing her the shopping bags.
"Uh, yeah Yugi I'm fine!" Rikku replied picking up her bags.
"I think you could've won you were doing a really good job. You probably just got intimidated."
"Maybe next time you'll win." Joey added. They all began to walk towards the exit.
"Where are you guys going?" Tea asked softly, picking up her bags. The group all turned around with apologetic smiles.
"We're going to Rikku's place for pizza, wanna come?" Mai asked with little emotion.
"I'd better just go home." Tea shrugged. "I have a lot of homework."
"Allright, see ya Tea!" Yugi said as they all walked off.
"Bye." Tea mumbled.
"Hey," Tristan turned in his tracks and headed back towards Tea. "Need a ride? I could take you home so you're not all alone."
"Thanks Tristan. That's really kind of you, but it's allright. You can go and eat pizza and hve fun with everyone else." Tea said dismissively, walking towards a different exit.
"If that's what you want Tea, but I'd rather be spending time with you any day." Tea turned around and gave him a geniune smile before pushing open the clear swinging doors and walking outside.

~*~*~

Okay so now you've met her, and she's not so terribly is she? Although she does seem awfully fond of Ryou and uh, anti-fond of Seto. I'm sorry it took me so long to get this chapter out- 2 whole weeks! The week I should've gotten it done was the week of mid-terms/finals and I was busy the entire time I had like no time at all for this. Then over the weekend I had to make my cousins feel welcome and spend time with them, so that was a no! Lol. Then from Mon-Thurs this week I was sick with a fever and other stuff (I was sick on Christmas!) so I worked on the fic Friday.

Uh, because of the delay note that Christmas hasn't occured for them yet. They were Christmas shopping in this chapter, the next chapter will involve them working on their projects and you'll see more of Rikku being a Ryou hog. So either Christmas will just be this tiny thing that happens in either the next chapter or the one after that. I decided the major Holiday to focus on is going to be Valentines insead.

**SPOILERS**: (I felt I owed you guys this much for the delay!) In the next few chapters; Tea becomes fully aware of Rikku's fondness towards Ryou and totally believes she is out to ruin her life. It's getting hard to work in peace on their project without destroying the float all together. Tea's parents also come home for the Holidays. Rikku and Ryou talk about the upcoming Valentines Ball that Domino High is throwing. Tea sees them and thinks they are going together now. Tea is fed up with everything and with Tristan's help gives Ryou the final break-off, and dashes his hopes for any possible friendship. So then when the Ball does come, how does Tristan end up helping Ryou? How does Tea end up dancing with the wrong guy? (Keep in mind these are just speculations and plot ideas that I am pretty I will work out on in the next few chapters. Things may be subject to change.) Uh. Okay. Review?

X Peace X
x Sibby x